Dynamics (Twoset Violin Fanfic)

Chapter Four

For Brett, everything had happened in slow motion.

First, he felt like he was going to fall, so he changed his grip slightly. He felt his fingers grip something: a scab? Wrist tape? It's probably nothing, Brett thought.

Then Eddy let go of him.

He only had time to take one step back before he was falling, falling...

... and crashing into something very heavy.

The first thing that hit him was the pain. He hadn't hit his head (thankfully), but the rest of his body felt completely bruised.

The second thing he realized was that he was in a pile of assorted dumbbells, and the lightest one looked about 15 pounds.

By this time, Brett had regained senses and realized that the two figures standing about him were Eddy and Coach Henry.

"Ohmygosh I'm so sorry!" Eddy exclaimed, moving the weights off of him and offering a hand to help him stand up.

"Don't touch me," Brett snapped, standing up on his own. Mistake. He felt his knees buckle, but Coach Henry grabbed his shoulder, pulling him back up.

The coach gave him a once over, then declared to the group: "He'll be fine."

To Brett, he said: "Take a rest on the bench, kid," and gestured towards a closed storage container.

"As for you..." he said, shaking his head and turning to Eddy, "you need to take a break too. Go," he said, gesturing towards the so-called bench.

The pair walked in silence. Brett took the bench, and Eddy sat on the floor next to him.

"Look, I am so, so sorry—" Eddy began.

"No," Brett said, staring straight ahead. "I really don't think you are," he said.

"But I—"

"No," Brett said, more forcefully this time. He turned to look at Eddy, ignoring the searing pain in his back that resulted from the movement. "First you shut me down when I try to talk to you. You glare at me when I smile at you and even when I try to help you from... him," he said, gesturing in the general direction of Coach Henry.

Brett sighed. "I'm sorry if I said something wrong earlier today. If you don't like me, that's your choice and I won't hold it against you. But trying to throw me into the weight rack? That's just messed up."

"I wasn't—" Eddy said, but Brett cut him off.

"Stop. Just stop," Brett said, suddenly depleted of all energy. "I can't do this right now. Just... leave me alone. Please."

Eddy took a breath like he was going to say something, but then he just looked away.

For a few minutes, they stayed like this, listening to Coach Henry bark directions towards the rest of the trainees. Then Eddy stood up.

"You don't want me to explain? Fine," he said, and stalked off.

The studio was small, so Brett could hear everything Eddy was saying to Coach Henry.

"Are you ready to join again?" the coach said unceremoniously. "No more dropping people?"

"I'm ready. Sorry about that."

"And your friend?"

"He's not my—" Eddy stopped himself. "He'll be fine."

If you call "feeling like I'm going to die" fine, then sure, Brett thought.

"Excellent!" said Coach Henry. He waved Brett over. Eddy suddenly became very interested in the floor fan.

I'm not letting him ruin my day, Brett thought as he dragged himself back to the group. I've been through worse. If I can perform a full routine on the beam with a sprained ankle, I can do stretching with some bruises and an unpredictable partner.

"Next up is my favorite part! Strength training!" announced the coach.

Oh, you've got to be kidding me.

When they started with handstand pushups, Brett poured all his anger into it. Eddy's handstand faltered from surprise, probably because Brett had been unable to stand just a few minutes ago.

"Everything good?" Brett said. He was genuinely concerned, but, being upside down and all, his tone ended up clipped.

"Just marvelous," Eddy said. But he started doing the pushups faster anyway.

For the rest of the day, they fell into a routine. Brett would push himself, and Eddy would try to one-up him. Anytime Brett glanced at him, Eddy would glare back. During water breaks, Eddy would stand at the opposite side of the studio, with as much distance between him and Brett as possible. Eventually, Brett found himself doing the same: leaning away from Eddy, barely touching him when they were supposed to be spotting each other.

Brett had never thought of himself as petty. But something about Eddy constantly competing with him annoyed him in a way he couldn't explain. It also didn't help that Eddy refused to talk to him.

The hours went by excruciatingly slow. Each time he checked the clock, he thought it had been at least 30 minutes, but only five had passed. Eventually, he just stopped checking.

"Brett," he heard someone say.

"What?" he grumbled.

"Um... class is over. We can leave now," Destiny said.

Brett looked around. Everyone had left, except for him and Destiny.

"Oh," he said.

"And sorry for snapping at you," he added, "I thought you were someone else."

"Yeah," she said with a small smile. "Well, see you tomorrow," she said.

"See you tomorrow," Brett said.

Crap. He had definitely been rude, and Destiny was too polite to point it out. But how to fix it?

I'll think of something, he thought, swinging his bag over his shoulder and walking out the door. He turned towards the elevator, where Eddy happened to be waiting. Eddy took one look at him and went down the stairs instead.

It really never stops with this guy, does it?  Brett thought as he stepped into the elevator.